Johnson under pressure after House fails to pass GOP funding plan and Trump pushes shutdown

[Samori Toure]

By Clare Foran and Haley Talbot, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 7:32 PM EDT, Wed September 18, 2024


WashingtonCNN —

The House failed on Wednesday to pass a six-month GOP government funding plan that included a controversial measure targeting noncitizen voting, an effort pushed by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The defeat of the bill puts Republican divisions on full display, but it also creates an opportunity for Speaker Mike Johnson to pivot to a Plan B as a shutdown looms, though the speaker has not yet said what his next steps will be. Government funding runs out at the end of the month. The House vote was 202 to 220, with 14 Republicans voting against it, two Republicans voting present and three Democrats voting for it.

A “clean” funding extension without the voting provisions attached is widely viewed on Capitol Hill as the only viable option to prevent a shutdown. But Trump is ramping up the pressure for a shutdown if Republicans are unable to pass the voting measure, which is considered a non-starter in the Democrat-led Senate... .

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/18/politics/house-gop-funding-plan-vote/index.html

 

[Samori Toure]

Good chance the government shuts down in a few weeks, because Trump is pushing Mike Johnson to do it. Trump is desperate.

McConnell: Government shutdown before election ‘politically beyond stupid’​

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is warning colleagues that it would be “politically beyond stupid” for Congress to stumble into a government shutdown a few weeks before Election Day, saying Republicans would “certainly” get the blame.

McConnell made his comments a few hours after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) unveiled his plan to vote this week on a bill that pairs a six-month continuing resolution with legislation backed by former President Trump that would require proof of citizenship to vote. Johnson was forced to yank the same bill from the floor last week in the face of widespread opposition within his own party.

Democrats warn they view the voter registration language as a “poison pill” that will sink the funding package.

McConnell stopped short of calling on House Republicans to abandon their plans of advancing a bill that has no chance of passing the Senate, but made it clear that he wants to see some kind of bipartisan compromise over the next 13 days to avoid a shutdown.

“One thing you cannot have is a government shutdown. It would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election, because certainly we’d get the blame,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

“One of my favorite old sayings is there’s no education in the second kick of a mule. We’ve been here before. I’m for whatever avoids a government shutdown, and that’ll ultimately end up, obviously, being a discussion between the [Senate] Democratic leader and the Speaker of the House,” he said.

In response to warnings from Republican lawmakers that the six-month continuing resolution pending in the House would hurt defense programs, McConnell said, “I think we have to first see what the House sends us... .”

McConnell: Government shutdown before election ‘politically beyond stupid’

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) is warning colleagues that it would be “politically beyond stupid” for Congress to stumble into a government shutdown a few weeks before Election Day, saying Republicans would “certainly” get the blame. McConnell made his comments a few hours after...

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